


Homecoming

by Thistlerose



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-10
Updated: 2012-01-10
Packaged: 2017-10-29 08:08:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/317659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thistlerose/pseuds/Thistlerose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke and Leia count their losses after the Battle of Yavin.  (Written in 2005.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Homecoming

Han doesn't seem to notice when Leia slips away from the festivities, but Luke does and he follows her. He finds her just outside the Massassi temple standing still as a flower, her long white robes spilling down her slender body, her shoulders bowed.

Deep inside him Luke feels a tremor. It's gentle, like the distant echo of falling rocks, but he is suddenly and inexplicably saddened.

Leia glances around shortly before Luke reaches her and he can see in the light of Yavin's third moon that her face is wet. She swipes quickly at her cheeks with the back of her hand, and works her lips into a brittle smile.

"I thought," he begins uncertainly.

"It's all right," she assures him. "I'm all right. We should be inside, celebrating. After all, you've won us our first true victory against the Empire. I'm so grateful. The Alliance, the Galaxy owes you s—"

"But you’re sad."

He watches her smile crumble and feels the tremor again. It's a ripple in his blood, somewhere to the left of his heart.

She lowers her lashes. "I'm thinking about my father, Bail Organa. He was one of the founders of the Alliance and he would have been so proud— But he was on Alderaan when it was destroyed." At her side, her small hand clenches.

"I'm sorry," says Luke, at a loss. He wonders if this is the first chance she's had to mourn.

"Moff Tarkin gave the order," Leia continues. "I'd have killed him, but Vader held me back."

There is utter conviction in her tone; she would have killed Moff Tarkin if she could, Luke knows. Armed or not.

Luke looks at the moon. It's deep gold in color and half-hidden by the trees. Stars twinkle around it like sparks flitting off a mound of dying embers.

It's cold out here. Luke has a sudden strong desire to wrap his arm around Leia's shoulders and pull her close, though he can't see whether or not she's shivering. But she is a princess and it would be improper, even though she threw her arms around him earlier when he all but fell out of his X-wing. Even though she kissed his cheek on the Death Star.

To his surprise she moves a little closer. She doesn't touch him, but suddenly he can smell her hair. It's odd; Leia smells nothing like the girls Luke knew on Tatooine, yet there's something familiar about her scent. Something soothing and cozy.

Luke hears himself say quietly, "Vader killed my father. Anakin Skywalker. He was a Jedi knight. Vader betrayed him and murdered him." The moment the words leave his lips he finds himself flushing with shame. He's known for years that his father is dead, though the knowledge of his murder is something he has acquired fairly recently. But his grief is old; he's grown up with it. Her grief is raw. She needs comfort now, not him.

He isn't surprised when she says, "I'm sorry."

"I didn't know him," Luke mumbles. "I was just a baby when he died. My aunt and uncle raised me." Now he's babbling. Wonderful.

"Not your mother?" asks Leia.

He can't simply refuse to answer. "She died, too."

Leia seems to sense his discomfort. She doesn't press him further and so he's saved from admitting that he remembers neither of his parents, and that Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru are dead as well. He doesn't want to talk about it now. All of his sadness should be for her, not himself.

But when Leia says – clearly attempting to change the subject – "I wonder if Han will stay," Luke allows himself a drop of self-pity. Which evaporates the moment she wraps her hands around his forearm and leans so close that he can feel the softness of her hair with his cheek.

They stand together in silence in the moonlight. The cool night air blows gently over them. In the temple behind them the celebration continues. They ought to return, Luke knows. But as welcome as the rebels have made him, he feels more at home out here, beside Leia. For the first time since leaving Tatooine Luke feels a strong sense of belonging.

09/16/05


End file.
